Organic hydrogenated fats

Earl Conroy wrote:

I can’t believe that an organic web site includes margarine in its recipes.

Hydrogenated vegetable oils are known as perhaps the most potent cause of the formation of arterial plaque. They are also implicated in forming inflammatory conditions of the arterial intima by causing massive free radical damage.

Why not suggest butter or coconut oil that actually enhance health??

The old paradigm of saturated fats causing cardio-vascular problems has long since been proven erroneous. It is the vegetable oils that create inflammatory conditions and arterial plaque and the hydrogenated margarine’s lead the foray to degeneration.

5 responses to “Organic hydrogenated fats”

You are, of course, 100% correct that hydrogenated fats are awful for your health. However, that’s the beauty of organic margarine.

Organic certification laws mean that the one surefire way you can eat margarine that’s free from hydrogenated fats is to choose organic margarine.

Personally, I usually bake with butter, as it keeps crusts crispier than using vegetable margarine or coconut-based shortening. But in terms of your health, choosing organic margarine means avoiding those artery-clogging hydrogenated fats.

Thanks for your response. While I totally agree with you that the body needs both saturated fats and polyunsaturated oils, there is a massive difference between hydrogenated fats and polyunsaturated oils.

However, hydrogenated fats never, ever occur in nature. They are only ever made in a laboratory by adding an extra hydrogen molecule to either unsaturated oils or saturated fats.

Hydrogenated fat arrives at food factories as little white ball bearings that do not melt at body temperature. As such, it’s a very handy ingredient in things like cookies, as it binds the dough like a fat, but doesn’t melt as easy once the final product has been baked. As an ingredient of convenience, it’s super-tempting. But as an ingredient of health, the problem with it is the very same factor as its convenience… i.e. it doesn’t melt at body temperature.

When you eat hydrogenated fats, the human body doesn’t know what to do with them, as they don’t break down like polyunsaturated or saturated fats. That’s why the body deposits hydrogenated fats in your arteries.

I don’t think at this point of my research that the body ‘needs’ PUFA’s.

The body can create w-9′s which seems to fulfill whatever needs it has of any fats not satutated. It has been the progress from saturated fats to PUFA’s that has [contributed to] brought about the amazing statistic of cancer and CVD…
1 out of 3 people!!

The only PUFA that I think has usefulness is sesame oil and I think its best used as tahini rather that a straight oil.

Yes, this is a debatable subject. But when you are reccomending foods to people from a ‘health’ standpoint, I think its wise to be sure of those suggestions.
best wishes,
Earl

Hmmm… PUFA’s (poly-unsaturated fatty acids) can be found naturally in all nuts and seeds. Personally, I’m happy to eat nuts and seeds. I’m also happy to eat cold pressed oils as a part of a healthy balanced whole food diet that includes natural organic sources of saturated fats, such as organic coconut oil and cheese. I agree that we need saturated fats, but am sure that we need polyunsaturated oils too. It’s just the hydrogenated fats that aren’t found anywhere in nature that we need to avoid for health reasons.

As such, I stand by my suggestion to use organic margarine if you’re a vegan making pastry. Also, I’m not necessarily recommending ingredients from a ‘health’ standpoint. I’m simply trying to show different ways of using organic ingredients, because I believe organic ingredients are better in every way than the non-organic alternatives.

I hope this clarifies my pastry recipe.

Best wishes
Ysanne

P.S. As for cardio-vascular disease statistics, there are just so many reasons why this is happening, primarily people eating junk food diets that are low in fresh vegetables, and also a lack of exercise. I truly believe that if people stopped eating polyunsaturated oils, their cardio-vascular healthy would not improve unless they took many other steps to improve their diet and exercise.